From the dawn of time, we have been trying to unlock the secret of the universe in order to find a reason behind why things are the way they are and why we feel the way we feel. For a long time, those who discovered the secret held on tight to that knowledge which was called “occult” or hidden. But it was only hidden because we looked in the wrong direction, not because it wasn’t available. We looked out and played the blame game. We thought things were “done to us” and felt victimized.

Turns out we need to look in, not out. With that comes another revelation. “The deepest secret is that life is not a process of discovery (passive observation, AN), but a process of creation (active creation, AN),” writes Neale Donald Walsh. “Life is not a school but an opportunity to create,” he continues.

Surveying the garden plantings with my husband this morning, I complained about the lemon balm crowding out the beautiful red blooming broom shrub we just planted. That’s exactly the crux of the problem, complaining. I criticized what is (a passive observation - too much lemon balm). The better thing to do is moving towards what I’d like to see (no lemon balm in that spot, removing it, transplanting it, substituting it with something else – an act of creation).

With every moment we have the opportunity to choose how we want to feel, to create what we want to experience and who we want to be. Life is an activity. It invites involvement, it invites definition of what you want, it requires action and getting off your butt.